Vedanta Resources, a leading global diversified miner completed the sinking of a new shaft at one of its Konkola Copper Mines units at Chililabombwe to boost copper output in Africa’s largest metal producer Zambia.
Mr Shapi Shacinda spokesperson said that a new shaft dubbed number 4 been sunk and completed at its flagship, Konkola Deep Mine Project under a new phase to increase copper output in Zambia. The miner was please the completion of the phase, a move expected to raise copper output at the mine to 400,000 per annum in the next few years. The shaft has been sunk to a depth of 1,505 meters in Zambia’s Chililabombwe border town.
Konkola Copper Mines is pleased to announce that it has completed the sinking phase for the new shaft 4 at its flagship Konkola Deep Mining Project. This is one of the major milestones in the overall KDMP project that is expected to lift total finished copper production to more than 400,000 tonnes in the next few years.
Mr Shachinda citing Mahendra Singh Mehta CEO of Vedanta Resources Group as saying during the last blast which marked the completion of the sinking phase for the shaft to 1,505 meters that the occasion marked a remarkable accomplishment for KCM and Zambia. This is a major milestone in the mine's history and we are very excited about the project. With the shaft sinking completed, the next phase of the project will be the equipping of the shaft.
Mr Jeyakumar Janakaraj CEO of Konkola Copper Mines said that Vedanta Resources had shown unrelenting commitment to continue with the execution of the project even in challenging times when the copper prices had slumped. The implementation of the KDMP project continued during the recent global economic crisis when several mining companies operating in Zambia suspended their projects.
Meanwhile Mr Raj Kulkarni GM of Konkola Deep Mine Project believed that the project which had been on the drawing board for several decades had culminated into the first major shaft to be sunk since Zambia’s independence in 1964. The shaft 4 is Zambia’s deepest and has the largest hoisting capacity in southern Africa. Its sinking was concluded after all 22 project milestones were achieved on schedule.
Eugene Erasmus, the Chairman for GLTA contractor company described the sinking of the shaft during the blasting ceremony as a challenging feat, which has only been accomplished due to a strong partnership his company has created with KCM and a focus by the KCM management to foster teamwork.
According to data, Konkola Copper Mines, known as KCM is an integrated copper producer, which operates the Nchanga mine, comprising an underground mine and four open pits, the Nchanga Smelter, Konkola Mine, Nkana Refinery on the Copperbelt province and the Nampundwe pyrite mine, located near the capital city, Lusaka. KCM is also Zambia’s largest private sector employer with more than 20,000 permanent and contractor employees. Vedanta Resources owns 79.4% shares in KCM while Zambia Consolidated Copper Mine Investment Holdings owns the remainder of the equity.
(Filed by Mr Kapembwa Sinkamba SteelGuru Correspondent Zambia)
